howard baker was a great leader and followed by bob dole. given the increased complexity of everything that the senate was dealing with, i think he was probably the best of all republican senate leaders. but when bob dole resigned to run for president greatness ended on that day. in the summer of 1996. minimally competent and instantly forgettable men, well on his way to being easily forgettable until today he was when he took his place in senate history as the man who has now done the dumbest thing any leader has ever done on the floor. he introduced the bill and asked for a vote on the bill where upon he changed his mind and opposed his own bill. mcconnell went to the floor this morning with a stunt in mind. the kind of thing leaders do all the time on both sides. bring something to a vote that the other party is supposed to be in favor of and then prove that the other party doesn't have enough votes to pass it. in this indication he asked for a vote to change the procedure on the debt ceiling in a way that it would empower the president t